We covered the launch of Landbay in April and it’s since gone on to bring the peer-to-peer lending model to buy-to-rent mortgages, among a raft of other competitors piling into this space. The idea is that it offers lenders more attractive returns compared to banks.

It’s now raised £1.5 million (USD$2.35 million) from Omni Partners an alternatives investment manager with direct experience of the UK property lending market.

It’s also now joined the UK Peer to Peer Finance Association (P2PFA), alongside founding members Zopa, Ratesetter and Funding Circle. This requires its members to operate by a strict set of rules in order to promote high standards of conduct and consumer protection, beyond those required by the FCA.

John Goodall, co-founder and CEO of Landbay says the round was “strategic.”

P2P lenders have sprung up in recent years. Zopa in the U.K. pioneered the model, and has raised significant funding. And the P2P finance model has even spread to insurance.

Competitors to Landbay’s model are Assetz and LendInvest. However, they focus mainly on lending for commercial property and developers, not the residential buy-to-rent mortgage market. Some £21 billion went though buy-to-rent mortgage lending in the UK in 2013.